Machine for cutting wood into slivers



S. R. SMITH AND E. GOWLES, OF HADLEY, MASSACHUSETTS.

MACHINE FOR CUTTING WOOD INTO SLIVERS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 12,424, dated February 20, 1855.

Toall whom 'it may cgwern Be it known that we,"SAMUEL R. SMITH andELIJAH CowLEs, of Hadley, in the county of Hampshire and State ofMassachusetts, have invented a new and Improved Machine for Cutting Woodinto Narrow Thin Shavings for Upholstery Purposes; and we do herebydeclare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description ofthe same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making part ofthis specification, in which- Figure 1, is a plan or top view of myimproved machine. Fig. 2, is a back end view of the same, in elevation.Fig. 3, is aside View of the same, the side of the frame nearest theeye, being removed. Fig. 4, is a View of a portion of the front end ofthe frame.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding'parts in theseveralfigures.

vThe nature of our invention consists, lst, in the peculiar meansemployed for giving the necessary feed motion to the cutters, and 2d inthe arrangement,and construction of the cutter head and guide, by whichthe cutters are made to pass over the stuff to be cut, in a right line.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use our invention wewill proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A, representsthe frame of the machine, constructed in any proper mannerto support the wo-rking parts.

B, (Figs. 2 and 3,) represents a verticalr shaft at the back end of theframe, A, said shaft working in a suitable bearing. (a) attached to theframe. The lower end of the shaft, B, wo-rks in a step (b) attached tothe upper part of a spring, C. The shaft B, has two pulleys, D,E. D, isa working, and, E, is an idle pulley. The working pulley, D, is attachedto a rhollow shaft, F, which fits over the shaft, B, and is secured toit by a feather and groove, so as to allow the shaft, B, to rotate, whenthe pull ley, D, rotates, and at the same time allow the shaft, B, to bedepressed, without depressing the pulley, D. The idle pulley, E, ismerely fitted loosely on the hollow shaft, F.

The lower part of the shaft, B, hasa series of grooves or recesses, (c)cut in it,

Aas shown clearly in Figs. 2 and 3, and in these recesses a segmentrack, G, gears, (see Fig. 3,) said rack being at the end of a lever, H,ywhich has its fulcrum at To the outer end of the lever, H, there isattached a Weight, I, and also a cord (e) passing over a pulley (f)atthe upper part of the frame, A, and having its end secured to a clutchwhich is on a small shaft,

J, the bearings (h, it) of which are attached to. the back end of theframe, A, (see Figs. 2, 8, and 4,). On the shaft, J, there is a wormwheel, K, which gears into a screw, L, on the hollow shaft, F, of thepulley, D, (see Figs. 3 and 4).

M, is a lever, having its fulcrum at one end of this lever is underneaththe spring, C, (see Fig. 3) and the opposite endv is underneath a slide,N, attached to the front end ofthe frame, A, (see Figs. 3 and 4);

O, is a lever having its fulcrum at (j) one end of this lever (the outerend) passes through an upright arm, P, having an inclined or bevelededge as shown at (la) Figs. 2 and 4, and the opposite end is fitted in anotch or underneath a projection (Z) on a plate, Q, attached to thefront end of the frame, A, directly above the slide, N, as

clearly shown in Fig. 4. The outer end of the lever, O, is provided witha wire (m) having a loo-p in it through which a belt passes, 'said beltpassing around the working pulley, D, and also a driving pulley, R, atthe front end of the frame, A, see Fig. 3. A', isa spring which bearsupon the lever, O. n Si, is a slide through which the rupright arm, P,passes, (see Figs. 2, 3 and 4). The inner `end ofV this slide isattached to the clutch (g) as clearly shown in Fig. 4.

i T, is a cap which is fitted onk the upper end Iof the shaft, B, andlsecured thereon by a screw (0) see Figs. 2 and 3. The cap, T, has a`flat metal plate (p) secured to its upper surface, and the edges orsides of this plate are bent upward as shown in'Fig. 8. U, is a platefo-rmed precisely similar tothe plate (p) only inverted and placeddirectly X, is a sliding stock which works on the outer end of one ofthe bars, V,-one stock only is shown in the drawings, but in practiceeach bar is4 provided with one. The stock, X, near its outer end isprovided with a cutter (t) formed of a chisel slightly inclined from ahorizontal position, and a series of cutting points (o) three or more,directly behind it, see Figs. 2 and 3. Near the inner end of the stock,X, there is an arm (fw) which projects downward, and has a slot (m) cutin its end.

Y, is a disk secured on the upper part of the frame, A, and having anupright riin or ledge (y) around it, (see Figs. 1, 2, and

` The disk, Y, is of nearly but not quite circular form, one side beingcurved or bent, as shown at (a) Fig. 1. The rim or ledge (y) fits in theslot (w) in the lower end of the arm (fw) as shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

Operation: Motion being given the driving pulley, R, the pulley, D, ismade to rotate, and also the shaft, B, with the bars V, V. Each bar, V,being provided with a stock, X, and cutter (t) attached to it. Thecutters (t) as the bars, V, rotate, pass in a right or straight lineover the stu which is placed on the upper part of the frame, A, andrepresented by (a) see Figs. l and 3. The cutters pass over the stuff iin a straight line owing to the irregular curved portion of the rim orledge (y) said portion (a) operating or moving the` cutter stock X, inconsequence of the arm fitting on or over the rim or ledge The cuttersas they pass over the stuff cut thin narrow shavings, the chisel (u)cutting a broad shaving, and the cutters (o) dividing it into narrowones. The cutters 'are`fed down upon the stuff in the following manner.As the hollow shaft, F, rotates, the screw L, upon it, communicatesmotion to the worm wheel, K, and the small shaft, J, rotates, and thecord (e) is wound upon one part of the clutch (g)-the weighted end ofthe lever, H, is consequently raised and the inner end depressed, and asthe rack G, gears into the recesses (c) the shaft, B, is graduallydepressed and the cutters fed to the stuff, when the cutters havedescended a distance equal to the thickness of the stuff the spring C,is depressed suf iciently to cause the inner end of the lever,

M, to act upon the slide, N, and throw the inner end of the lever, O,out from underneat-h the projection (Z) on the plate, Q, and the spring,A, throws the inner end of the lever, O, upward and the uprightarm, P,in moving throws the slide, S, in such manner as to separate ordisconnect the clutch (g) and consequently the feed motion ceases, theshaft, B, and lever, H, re-v turning to their original position, bymeans of the spring, C, and weight, I, the belt (n) by the downwardmovement of the lever, O, being thrown on the idle pulley, E. Thecutters (t) are then moved outward, so as to take another cut by turningthe cranks, W. The lever, O, (its under end) placed under the projection(Z) and the operation above described is repeated.

It is necessary that the cutters should pass in a straight line over thestuff in order that the shavings may be cut in the direction of thegrain, and not transversely with it; in the latter case the shavingswould be brittle, and have no elasticity.

What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is,

l. Giving the necessary feed motion to the cutters by means of thelever, H, with the segment rack, G, attached to one end,

which rack gears into the recesses, (c) cut stuff (a) by means of therim or ledge (y) on the disk, Y,-said rim or ledge havingria bent orcurved portion (e) which in consequence of the arm (w) working upon itcommunicates the proper motion to the cut-ter stocks, so that thecutters will pass over the stuff in a right or straight line, as hereindescribed.

SAMUEL R. SMITH. ELIJ AH COWLES.

Witnesses:

SAMUEL NASH, MARTYN S. NASH.

which is wound v

